The median price of $540,000 paid across the nine-county region was up 31.7 percent from a year earlier, said DataQuick of San Diego. Meanwhile, the 8,616 new and resale homes and condos that changed hands in August were 0.6 percent shy of the number sold in August 2012.

“No matter which price gauge or index you look at, prices are up a lot – much more than people had expected,” said Andrew LePage, a DataQuick analyst. “The median has been up around 30 percent (compared with the previous year) for the past five months, but I don’t expect that this rate of increase will continue much longer.”

Several trends should soon slow the growth, including rising mortgage interest rates, more homes for sale, fewer cash-paying investors, and dwindling of bargain distress sales.

More homes to see

Real estate agents said that rising inventory is quite apparent.

“I’m definitely starting to see more houses for sale,” said Corey Weinstein, an agent with Red Oak Realty in the East Bay. “The brokers’ tour list for this week was bigger. The Sunday open house guide was a lot longer. There’s an optimism among buyers that there is a lot more out there to see.”

One result is that bidding wars, while still a factor, now involve just a handful of potential buyers, rather than a dozen.

Increasingly more homeowners are finding out that the math works out for them to sell now.

Graham Humphreys and Anissa Burnley are listing their three-plus bedroom Cape Cod-style home near Oakland’s Glen Echo Creek, close to lower Piedmont Avenue and Adams Point.

“We bought the house in 2005 at the peak of the market,” Humphreys said. “It’s a beautiful house that we absolutely loved, but in the interim, like a lot of people, we had our time of being underwater, our time when we might have wanted to move but couldn’t sell.”

Better for buyers

Now as they seek more space for a growing family, they’re able to put it on the market, asking $679,000, a bit more than the $644,000 they paid.

“In the space of a couple of years, it’s gone from a relatively dire situation for many of us to an opportunity for both the sellers and buyers,” Humphreys said. “Everything has changed.”

For home buyers who’ve faced frustrating bidding wars and dearth of inventory, the increase in for-sale listings is welcome news.

“Home shopping should be much more enjoyable this fall than it was earlier in the year,” LePage said. “People will still bemoan the increase in prices, but there will be more homes to choose from. The typical home buyer won’t feel as rushed.”

Around the Bay Area some of the biggest price increases were in lower-cost counties. Solano County saw the median jump 46.1 percent, albeit starting from a low base. It is now $277.500. Contra Costa’s median was up 40.9 percent to $420,250.

The rising prices helped fuel another trend: Condo sales hit an eight-year high for the month of August with 1,960 changing hands at a median price of $445,000.

Lower-priced condos are typically a way that first-time buyers get a foothold in the market when they’re priced out of single-family homes in their desired area.

As is normal in the late summer, both price and sales dipped in August compared with the previous month. The median was 3.9 percent short of July’s $562,000 median, and sales were down 7.7 percent from July.

Home values increase

About three-quarters of the median’s rise stemmed from an actual increase in home values, with the remainder being due to a changing market mix.

Distress sales were less than half the level of a year ago. Foreclosure resales accounted for 4.6 percent of August resales (the same as in July) versus 14.5 percent a year earlier. That 4.6 percent is the lowest share since August 2007, just before the credit crunch hit.

Short sales, or homes sold for less than is owed on the mortgage, were 10 percent of resales, down from 23.3 percent in August 2012.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/Bay-Area-home-sales-subside-but-prices-increase-4813295.php

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS/AP) – The real estate tracking firm DataQuick said Thursday that the median price for homes in the nine-county San Francisco Bay area reached $555,000 in June, an increase of 6.9 percent over the previous month.

The real estate data firm is reporting the median year-over-year price paid for a Bay Area home rose at its fastest pace on record in June.

DataQuick said Thursday that the rise was the result of disappearing distress sales, an improving economy and mortgage rates remaining low.

However, the number of homes sold dropped 7.5 percent to 7,897 in June. DataQuick attributes the decrease to the number of homes for sale falling short of demand and an easing of purchases by cash and investor buyers.

The real estate information service says last month’s sales were 20.9 percent below the June average of 9,993 sales.

• See the full DataQuick report and County-by-County sales breakdown

Home prices in the Bay Area are through the roof according to a new study by Data Quick.

Back in 2009, during the depths of the recession, the median price of a home was $290,000. Now that figure is $555,000; six percent higher than last month and 33 percent higher than one year ago.

Data Quick Analyst Andrew LePage said it’s a matter of supply and demand. We’ve seen sales fall on a year-over-year basis for the last five months in a row.

Richard Green with the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern California said much of it is the shortage of homes for sale.

“Inventories are very small,” he said adding that there are many more all cash transactions than ever, which drives up the market for higher-end homes and drives up sale prices.

Speculators have said that things could ease with fewer homes underwater, prompting sales and increasing supply. In addition, developers are also starting to build new homes again.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Article source: http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2013/07/18/median-bay-area-home-price-jumps-again-as-inventory-remains-tight/

La Jolla, CA – April 18, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — Bay Area home sales fell below a year earlier for the second consecutive month in March as demand continued to outstrip supply in many markets. While low-end sales fell sharply compared with March 2012, $500,000-plus transactions jumped, helping to push the median sale price up on a year-over-year basis for the 12th consecutive month, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 7,263 new and resale houses and condos sold in the nine-county Bay Area last month. That was up 34.4 percent from 5,404 the month before, and down 6.0 percent from 7,723 in March 2012, according to San Diego-based DataQuick.

It’s normal for sales to jump between February and March, with that gain averaging 39.5 percent since 1988, when DataQuick’s statistics begin. March sales have ranged from a low of 4,898 in 2008 to a high of 12,645 in 2004. Last month’s sales were 17.1 percent lower than the March average of 8,758.

The median price paid for a home in the nine-county Bay Area last month was $436,000. That was up 7.7 percent from $405,000 in February and up 21.8 percent from $358,000 in March last year.

The median has risen on a year-over-year basis for 12 consecutive months, with double-digit year-over-year gains the last ten months, and increases above 20 percent for the past five months.

Still, last month’s median was 34.4 percent lower than the $665,000 peak in June and July of 2007. In March 2009 the median hit its post-peak low of $290,000. That trough was an almost absurdly low level for the Bay Area, reflecting both widespread price declines as well as robust sales of heavily discounted inland foreclosures at a time high-end sales were all but dormant.

It appears that well over half of the 21.8 percent year-over-year increase in March’s median sale price reflects rising home prices. It’s Economics 101: Prices go up as growing demand meets an exceptionally low supply of homes for sale. However, a portion of the March median’s year-over-year gain reflects a change in market mix – sales of low-cost distress homes have fallen sharply, while sales of pricier move-up homes have shot up.

“Higher sales in the middle and top of the housing market reflect improved consumer confidence, ultra-low mortgage rates and the unleashing of more pent-up demand than many anticipated. There’s been a shift in psychology, where more people worry prices will rise and fewer fear a decline. It’s drawn a lot of folks off the fence following a long stretch of sub-par sales, especially in the higher price ranges. In the more affordable markets, we’ve seen a big drop in foreclosures, which limits the supply of homes for sale. Then you have homeowners who still can’t sell because they owe more than their homes are worth,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president.

“The more prices rise, though, the more likely we’ll see a lot more people put their homes on the market,” Walsh added. “There’s pent-up demand among potential sellers, too, and many will try to move as soon as it makes sense. A substantial jump in inventory would at least moderate home price growth.”

Last month the number of homes that sold for less than $500,000 fell 18.9 percent compared with March 2012, while the number that sold for $500,000 or more rose 25.2 percent, DataQuick reported.

Distressed property sales – the combination of foreclosure resales and “short sales” – made up about 30 percent of the resale market in March. Last month’s figure, which was the lowest in five years, was down from about 35 percent in February and down from about 49.0 percent a year ago.

Foreclosure resales – homes that had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – accounted for 10.7 percent of Bay Area resales last month, down from 14.0 percent in February, and down from 25.5 percent a year ago. Last month’s level was the lowest since foreclosure resales were 10.1 percent of the resale market in November 2007. Foreclosure resales peaked at 52.0 percent in February 2009. The monthly average over the past 18 years is 10.2 percent.

Short sales – transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property – made up an estimated 19.0 percent of Bay Area resales last month. That was down from an estimated 20.5 percent in February and down from 23.8 percent a year earlier.

Jumbo loans, mortgages above the old conforming limit of $417,000, accounted for 39.7 percent of last month’s purchase lending, up from 37.1 percent in February, and up from 30.7 percent a year ago. Jumbo usage dropped as low as 17.1 percent in January 2009. Before the credit crunch struck in August 2007, jumbos accounted for nearly 60 percent of the Bay Area purchase loan market.

Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), another indicator of mortgage availability, accounted for 12.7 percent of the Bay Area’s home purchase loans last month. That was up from 11.0 percent in February, and up from 11.6 percent a year ago. Since 2000, ARMs have accounted for a monthly average of about 42 percent of all purchase loans. ARMs hit a low of 3.0 percent of purchase loans in January 2009.

Government-insured FHA home purchase loans, a popular, low-down-payment choice among first-time buyers, accounted for 12.3 percent of home purchase mortgages in March. That was down from 14.6 percent in February and down from 20.9 percent a year earlier. In recent months the FHA level has been the lowest since summer 2008, reflecting both tougher qualifying standards and the difficulties first-time buyers have competing with investors and other cash buyers.

The most active lenders to Bay Area home buyers last month were Wells Fargo with 14.8 percent of the purchase loan market, Stearns Lending with 4.5 percent, and RPM Mortgage with 3.6 percent.

Last month absentee buyers – mostly investors – purchased 27.3 percent of all Bay Area homes. That was down from 28.7 percent in February, and up from 24.2 percent a year ago. Absentee buyers paid a median $324,000 in March, up 29.6 percent from $250,000 a year earlier.

Buyers who appear to have paid all cash – meaning no sign of a corresponding purchase loan was found in the public record – accounted for 31.1 percent of sales in March. That was down from 32.3 percent the month before and up from 29.4 percent a year earlier. The monthly average going back to 1988 is 12.9 percent. Cash buyers paid a median $325,000 in March, up 30.0 percent from $250,000 a year earlier.

San Diego-based DataQuick monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts. Because of late data availability, sales were estimated for Alameda and San Francisco counties.

The typical monthly mortgage payment that Bay Area buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,579. That was up from $1,460 in February, and up from $1,359 a year ago. Adjusted for inflation, last month’s payment was 44.1 percent below the typical payment in spring 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 58.7 percent below the current cycle’s peak in July 2007.

Indicators of market distress continue to decline. Foreclosure activity is well below year-ago and peak levels reached in the last few years. Financing with multiple mortgages is low, and down payment sizes are stable, DataQuick reported.

All Homes #Sold #Sold Pct. $Median Median Pct.

Source: DataQuick, www.DQNews.com

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157

Comments

No comments yet.

Leave a comment

Related posts:

• Bay Area May Home Sales, Median Price Inch Up From April; Fall below 2010
  La Jolla, CA. – June 15, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The Bay Area housing market in May posted modest month-to-month gains in sales and median prices, but those same measures fell sharply from year-ago levels, which had been pumped up artificially by homebuyer tax credits. Move-up buying and new-home sales were especially weak last month, while the share of…

• January California home sales, median price dip, C.A.R. reports
  LOS ANGELES, CA – February 15, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — California home sales declined from both the prior month and year in January, according to data from the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.). The median price also was lower, primaril……

• Bay Area June Home Sales Surge, Median Price Edges Up to 2011 High
  La Jolla, CA. – July 15, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Bay Area home sales rose sharply last month from May to the highest level for any month since June 2010, when outgoing homebuyer tax credits gave housing demand a final boost. The median price rose slightly from May but remained below the year-ago level for the ninth consecutive month amid…

• Southland Home Sales at Six-Year High; Median Price Up Again Yr/Yr
  La Jolla, CA – March 14, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — Southern California logged the highest February home sales in six years last month amid relatively strong sales of mid- to high-end properties and a record share of homes sold to absentee buyers. The ……

• Vacation Home Sales Continued To Rise in 2012, With Median Sales Price Up For the First Time Since 2009, According to New Research from HomeAway and National Association of Realtors
  AUSTIN, TX – April 8, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — The market for vacation home sales in 2012 showed continued signs of strength, with a 10% increase in sales from the prior year and a 24% increase in the median sales price, the first rise in three years, according to the 2013 Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey by the National…

Recent Posts

• • NEARLY 20 COMMUNITIES THROUGHOUT DC METRO OPEN DOORS TO SHOWCASE BENEFITS OF HOUSING AFFORDABILITY ON ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY
  • CUSHMAN WAKEFIELD AWARDED DISPOSITION OF 628 UNIT MULTIFAMILY PROPERTY LOCATED IN MERRILLVILLE, IN
  • CW ANNOUNCES SALE OF ADAPTIVE REUSE APARTMENT BUILDINGS LOCATED IN SOUTH BEND, IN
  • Status of Independent Foreclosure Review Payments
  • The NH Department of Revenue Administration’s Annual Low and Moderate Income Homeowner’s Property Tax Relief

Popular Posts

• • Canyon Gate Real Estate Services’ Vice President Kim Corcoran Named to APCM Board of Directors
  • Governor Haley to sign South Carolina REALTORS® Point of Sale bill Monday
  • The NH Department of Revenue Administration’s Annual Low and Moderate Income Homeowner’s Property Tax Relief
  • The NH Department of Revenue Administration’s Annual Low and Moderate Income Homeowner’s Property Tax Relief
  • South Carolina REALTORS® Release August Market Numbers
  • South Carolina REALTORS® UnConference a Success
  • South Carolina REALTORS® UnConference a Success
  • The NH Department of Revenue Administration’s Annual Low and Moderate Income Homeowner’s Property Tax Relief
  • South Carolina REALTORS® UnConference a Success
  • Canyon Gate Real Estate Services’ Vice President Kim Corcoran Named to APCM Board of Directors

Article source: http://www.realestaterama.com/2013/04/18/bay-area-home-sales-dip-below-2012-level-again-median-sale-price-rises-ID020407.html

After a slew of positive readings on the nation’s housing recovery, sales of newly built homes in October were a big disappointment.

Despite the big public builders reporting big jumps in new orders and builder confidence positively leaping to the highest level since 2006, sales just didn’t compute, and even September’s numbers were revised down.

“The recovery in new home sales is looking a little weaker than we were previously led to believe,” writes Paul Diggle of Capital Economics.

But Diggle points out the positives, specifically that the time between a completion and a new home sale has been falling dramatically, from over 14 months in late 2009 to just over 6 months today. The average historically is five months.

“That drop strikes us as another sign that buyer confidence is improving,” adds Diggle.

But is it improving as much as builder confidence?

“This was a disappointing update,” writes Patrick Newport of HIS Global Insight.

“It indicates that demand for single-family homes is only slowly picking up, not accelerating, as the data previously showed. It also indicated that builders may have jumped the gun a little by accelerating the pace of construction of single-family homes.

(Read More: Cities With the Most Affordable Homes)

A big concern for home builders now is the looming fiscal cliff. The housing recovery depends on the economic recovery and continued improvement in the jobs picture. There is also great concern that the mortgage interest deduction could fall victim to the cliff. That’s why housing lobbyists have upped their budgets this year to $30 million from $27 million in 2011, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The National Association of Realtors leads by far with a record $25,982,290 spent on lobbying so far.

(Read More: Why the ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Is Kryptonite to Entrepreneurs)

Fears of the fiscal cliff could be impacting potential buyers already. The new home sales monthly number from the U.S. Department of Commerce is based on signed contracts, not closings, so it is a clear gauge of what potential buyers are feeling right now.

(Read More: How ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Could Affect Mortgage Interest Deduction)

“It is making me nervous for sure to have such uncertainty over such a traditional expectation, the mortgage deduction,” says Stephen Paul, of Mid-Atlantic Builders, a Maryland-based company. Paul says he hasn’t seen any cancellations over it yet, but it has come up in conversation plenty.

It is just one more uncertainty that this recovery doesn’t need. All signs are pointing to big gains in the housing market for 2013. Those expectations, however, must be tempered with a dash of perspective yet again. Peter Boockvar of Miller Tabak maps it out well:

“While the housing industry is recovering, new home sales have trended between 360k and 370k for the last 6 months, still 73 percent below the bubblicious peak in July ’05 and not too far above the trough seen in 1982 and still below the bottom seen in the 1991 recession. On one hand, there is plenty of room for continued improvement but on the other, the healing process will take a lot of time and will likely be in fits and starts as recoveries from the aftermath of bubbles typically are.”

SECTOR WATCH: US Home Builders

—Toll Brothers
[TOL 
Loading... 
 
 
()
 
]

—DR Horton
[DHI 
Loading... 
 
 
()
 
]

—Hovnanian Enterprises
[HOV 
Loading... 
 
 
()
 
]

—PulteGroup
[PHM 
Loading... 
 
 
()
 
]

—Ryland Group
[RYL 
Loading... 
 
 
()
 
]

—Lennar Corp
[LEN 
Loading... 
 
 
()
 
]

—Beazer Homes USA
[BZH 
Loading... 
 
 
()
 
]

—Meritage Homes
[MTH 
Loading... 
 
 
()
 
]

—KB Home
[KBH 
Loading... 
 
 
()
 
]

Questions?  Comments?